I'll try the bios and cmos jumper resets tonight and see what happens.  
Neither the Asus motherboard manual or the HP site identify the bios 
manufacturer or versions.  I'll look for the pc manual tonight.  The 
Asus manual does state that the video is onboard as well as the lan 
connection, which both are currently running off pci cards.  HP does 
have an updated bios available for download on their website, but 
doesn't offer the original bios.
If I were to replace the motherboard with a new one of the same 
model/version, will I likely have a tattoo issue to deal with (either 
with my hard drive restore partition or if I order a new set from HP ?
.
Paul Hachmeyer <[log in to unmask]> wrote: (Pardon the length, trying 
to list all the details and specs).
.
My initial problem is this:
My duaghters pc occasionally freezes up. After doing numerous scans, I
couldn't find any viruses, etc. so I decided to wipe the hard drive of
all the accumulated junk and start with the delivered package. So, I
ran a destructive restore using the delivered process on the Compaq pc
with win xp home sp2. Partition D contained delivered restore programs
and files that were used to reformat and restore all original delivered
software to drive C, effectively giving a clean out-of-box pc, albeit
about 3 years old.
When the restore finished, it asks if I want to start windows, I click
yes, it reboots, flashes a screen to wait while windows sets up, then
the xp screens appear and the screen goes to a blank blue/gray, frozen.
I reboot into safe mode, then I get a message - 'the system is not fully
installed, please run setup again'. I repeat the entire process, same
error.
The only changes to the delivered pc itself was memory increased from
512 to 2 gb and a motherboard problem with video that resulted in adding
a pci video card for video. We're also using a wireless mouse and
keyboard and an HP flat panel monitor which replaced the old crt
screen. The bios settings point the video to pci, not onboard video and
the flat panel still gets a signal throughout the process. No drivers
have been installed for the flat panel as part of the restore process,
unless xp did it by itself, and it still displays everything properly
until it freezes. Ran a similar process 4 or 5 months ago on an HP of
similar vintage, no problems, only changes on the other pc were
additional memory and an added dvd reader. A web search today
suggested that a standard crt monitor be used because some flat panels
affect the reinstall of windows.
I never created a set of recovery disks until just before I tried the
restore. A friend suggested that the restore partition might have been
corrupted over the past 3 years, and the disks might not be any good
either. There were no errors displayed when I created the disks, or ran
the restores, until the windows setup process.
Where do I go from here to complete a working restore?
.
Now I went down a worse path - I had the brainstorm to switch the video
from pci back to onboard in the bios, and try the process again. (I had
already attached a crt monitor and repeated the restore process a third
time witht the same results). What was I thinking?!?!? The bios
change worked perfectly, now I can't view the video either onboard
(since the onboard video is dead) or via the pci card since I changed
that to 'off' in the bios. I can't see anything to get back into bios
to switch it back!! I tried to reset the cmos by moving the jumper,
powering up, shutting down and replacing the jumper, no change. Compac
Presario SR1410NX, celeron cpu. 3 pci slots, no AGP slots, no floppy
drive (I guess I could install one if needed). PCI network card. (I
would have to check to see if that was added or if there was also
onboard network which went when the video went). I also swapped the
video card into a different slot to see if that would trigger anything.
Still no video.
.
So, #1 is how do I reset the bios without being able to view it? When
the motherboard video went, my local repair shop diagnosed the problem
and installed the video card, and all was well. Unfortunately, what I
was charged for a basic unbranded, unlabeled video card was about the
same as 50 gallons of gas at today's prices... But it was paid for by
insurance. This time, it's on me.
#2 is to get a good restore.
.
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.
.
Paul Hachmeyer

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